Wednesday, March 21, 2012

a surprise or two...

loved the wrapping and the tape... just wonderful.... and the beautiful paper from dressmaking patterns.

It was a good thing my mother was about because I had by that time realised what was inside the package ... an exquisite collaged image that I noticed awhile back on the blog belonging to...

a delightful blogger from the northern hemisphere... bella Caterina

look at all those details

well... my warmest thanks to Ms Caterina of 'la Dolce Vita' blog... I seem to remember making remarks about how this would look amazing in a certain someone's room that I happened to be renovating... well... that is indeed where it will go once its framed! And there are appreciative sounds coming from the one who will be graced by the presence of this lovely art piece. What a special surprise! Bella!!!

Gracias Caterina! Gracias!

Its been a busy time... hard to keep up with all the different tangents. I've now claimed space on the veranda for a large collapsable table I recently bought to paint on... inspired by a painting project I'm involved with.

An interesting recent collaboration is this Mural project below being organised and co-ordinated by Karen Cipressi whose organisation and goodwill made it a dream to work here with a few artists in tow. Its the Community Resource and Environmental Education Centre that belongs to a local inner-city Brisbane Catchment Committee at Norman Creek. I found this image taken during last years floods ... the creek is highlighted ... love the way it snakes around like that! One can only imagine what a wonderful place it must have been pre colonial settlement.

Norman Creek breaks its banks in the January floods. Photo: nearmap.com

Around15 years ago the nearby creek was all but engineered out of existence to become a concrete canal for some miles. At either end there is still natural habitat and wildlife...but the patch where this building is operating is said to the the most urbanised waterway in the state. In fact... the damage done when this engineering job took place (supposedly to avert flooding, which it hasn't!) to the natural eco-system was so severe that this community group formed to oversee all other potential sites in the city and to lobby to make sure this mistake was not repeated again.

As you see here they certainly concreted the creek... and this is a pleasant shot.. unlike the untreed canal where we've been working!

This older style house surrounded by large trees is where the mural is being painted to wrap around the entire building. On the left is quite a spacious seed nursery currently unused... so the thought is to create some renewed energy about this place, and see if the Nursery could get going again by attracting some genuine interest from the community. I live 30-40 minutes on the other side of the river... but rather wish this was in my neighbourhood.

Downstairs may end up being used for artists projects...the building needs a slight spruce up downstairs but is ideal for various initiatives.

This is what we started with... undercoated concrete bessa bricks.

The blue has been drawn up by Karen to wrap around the building to symbolise the creek and importance of water. As I was getting into the painting the question of how to link themes & the other side of the doorway with imagery of seeds bursting forth into life was a key question.

I found it necessary to simply paint and then think about modifying and changing things later. Its definitely a work in progress.

At the end of the first day... the work is beginning to unfold.

I loved being able to plaint up large and quite loosely after feeling quite restricted by my available working space in recent studio scions at home.

The down pipe wan in interesting addition here...

I didnt have much time on Monday to work into it, a few hours in the afternoon! Decided the yellow line over the window needs changing and of course more details yet to be added! It certainly pays to stand back and rethink.

The others have painted the three sides of the building with the under layer of their design.

I'm responsible for that small area on the left at the front of the building. Seeds, fitting the seed nursery is next door! The others concentrated on the wrap-around design into which images and details will be added to feature various stories. There'll be more seeds floating up here and there.

The first full day of painting here got me thinking large again. Ive no plans to hunt down a large studio at this time.. too much else to focus on... so will have to see what happens about that new found urge to break out!! I'll let you know how the entire project comes together.

A visit to my homage blog presents the latest on a huge regional issue of grave concern to many of us at the moment. I know US bloggers know all about CSG or fracking... it seems to be a kind of universal madness these days. I was reading about Fracking in Sussex in the UK the other day! We've not learnt the lesson here yet and I was saddened to hear from people enduring Gas drilling in their neighbourhoods a week ago, at steep personal cost!

This week's post is a mini-campaign of sorts. Its a longish story ... too late now to elaborate much on how this came about .. so lets just say... two heads are better than one. A chance meeting with an interesting thinker, Gabrielle, originally from the Netherlands, led me to create a message that evolved from some serious debate via email and phone ... much thinking, interviews with Politicians (Gabrielle's undertaking - Bravo!) and more. Read here about this

My Dear Cat... it was the best surprise thank you!! I was just on my way over to say... "have a look.. it came!"... when I found you'd left a message.Is much admired and perfect for a singer who also is fond of birds. Will look fab framed and up on the wall! Do hope I've found all the spelling mistakes... When tired one seems to miss then!Thanks for the words on the mural..its been fun... well one and half days worth .. quite quick really!xox

Love the mural! Can't wait to see it develop. Where there are layers of more detailed seeds there is a wonderful depth... exciting.

And I am continually blown away with the generosity of bloggers! I guess its generous from the get-go to give ones words freely and to spend hours crafting beautiful online places so full of inspiration, maybe its not so surprising, then that bloggers also do give-aways and surprise packages show up in the mail. It warms my heart.

It was a wonderful treat Cat's gift in the mail... she laughed and said..."watch out what you wish for"... but this is a happy outcome indeed. I don't get to do that kind of work myself but I love collage and layering and the delicacy of this one!

V...very, very intense.. friends on farms needed the moral support of seeing something happening in cities where it is so easy to turn one's back!

The mural is going to be interesting to see come together... Karen is doing a great job co-ordinating.... makes it very simple to turn u and do one's bit! Keen to see what they do with the internal space too!

Fracking is a huge concern here, especially in the Karoo and I don't think we are going to be able to stop it. What are "we" doing to our beautiful earth and the poor people who live close to the sites.

When I saw the collage I recognized Cat's work immediately. How wonderful for you to see it face to face.

Oh Robyn... that is awful to hear... it really does feel like a world gone mad!I thought it was so tremendously problematic what we've already done that we could not possibly insist on the tracking story!

A big mining magnate in this state is causing no end of mockery at the moment by accusing the green party here of being tied up with the US CIA. All because he is noticing that there seems to be strong opposition to his plans for our land and he can't believe people would oppose him?

Cats work is just wonderful... I'm really delighted to see it up close as you say!S x

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Blogging for me is an extension of keeping a journal which I have done in various forms over the decades. The difference being this is not a closed book! I like that it offers an opportunity to explore that which concerns me as an artist and as an individual about living and participating in this vastly complex, unquestionably exciting yet unnerving time in human history.
Through the blog I hope to increase the possibilties for cross-pollination which I believe can strengthen the sense of being part of something both personal and universal that is vital, expansive and refreshing.